Season 15 - The Last Place on Earth (1985-1986)
The great age of exploration when men went about the Earth planting flags in the most hostile of climates holds no interest for me. It doesn't just smack of colonialism, but of a severe superiority complex. Britain literally was trying to claim the South Pole to regain their manhood. And that isn't me projecting, they actually say that in The Last Place on Earth which is dark and bleak and boils down to two assholes doing something for no reason. Norway, led by Roald Amundsen, took the Pole because they were better prepared, but Britain, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, arriving at the Pole a mere thirty-four days late were the real "winners" because of their heroic deaths on the return trip. By heroic I mean they froze to death in their tent because Scott had no business running an Antarctic expedition. Or at least that's my take after watching this grueling miniseries. Which is why I'm now going to talk about the music. Yes, no Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and other famous celebs making some of their earliest film roles for me! For me it's all about Trevor Jones! His name is in the credits! It's really big! It's in the crossed flags that make a cross marking a grave. SO DRAMATIC! So mismatched. At the time Trevor Jones was contracted to do The Last Place on Earth he was smack dab in the middle of his "mystical" phase, having worked on Excalibur and The Dark Crystal with Labyrinth on the horizon. And that is exactly what this music sounds like. Which, given the subject matter, is a major disconnect. Because it sounds like he's written a third unreleased score for Legend to replace Tangerine Dream who replaced Jerry Goldsmith and not music for men toiling in the harshest of climes. I feel like there was an exec somewhere who spun a narrative about the South Pole and it's eternal winter being like a snow globe and Trevor Jones just ran with that concept. The glittering ice hovering in the air, the magical, unearthly environment, the eternal darkness, OK, I'm starting to talk about Legend again. But seriously, has someone edited this score to Legend because I think it would be slamming. Because the truth of the matter is I love this music. I want a soundtrack that I can listen to on a loop. My brother said it reminded him of the best in industrial library music from the seventies and he too thought it was slamming. But was, like me, perplexed by how this in any way connected with an expedition to the South Pole. At least it made the copious deaths and treks and eating of animals almost bearable. It's not an understatement to say it's the incongruous music that got me through this show. That and I really wanted to see Scott die. I particularly loved the Norwegians leaving him a fuck you tent at the pole. That was class. Because, fuck Scott! Long live Trevor Jones!
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